MOUNT VERNON — East High Street parking on Sunday afternoon was at a premium, and people were everywhere. A large crowd of folks was headed for the final performance of “Peter Pan” at the Memorial Theater; most everyone else was headed for the High Street Home Tour.

At St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, built in 1839, anyone could ring the big bell in the tower for a donation of $1.

Rebekah Lebold, 3 1/2, pulled as hard as she could on the thick rope, with some help from her mother, Jennifer.

“It’s wonderful,” she said in an awestruck voice. “I rang-ed it. I pulled hard.”

As Dean Shira’s teams of black horses pulling carriages clip-clopped up and down the street, taking people for rides, Tim and Vicki Fitzgerald told visitors about their home at 206 E. High St.

“This house was built in 1910 by Anton and Mary Schiappacase, who owned Candy Land, which is now The Alcove,” said Tim. “Previously, this lot was occupied by the barn that housed the trolleys, which were decommissioned about 1900 when the automobile became popular. They used some of the wood from the barn to build this house.”

He noted that the house was a funeral parlor for a time, which was very unpopular with the neighbors.

“We would love to put the wraparound porch back on, and that’s the last thing we need to do [in the renovation],” said Tim.

The Fitzgeralds have decorated the house with period Mission-style furniture and used an Ohio theme, with Ohio stoneware, pottery and furniture displayed everywhere. The tour exited the house into a walled courtyard paved with brick.

On the wide porch of the Columbus Ewalt House, 400 E. High St., built in 1906, docent Katie Baker explained that Ewalt was a prominent attorney who was elected county prosecutor in 1897 and 1900. In the middle of the 20th century, the house was owned by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus and served as a convent for the teachers at St. Vincent de Paul School, the Sisters of Charity.

“We’ve had several people come in today who remember when the nuns lived here,” said Baker.

Inside, in the room the nuns used for their chapel, docent Marilyn Stokes called visitors’ attention to a long oak table.

“This was given to the Clarkson family, [the current owners] just this week,” she said. “But it hasn’t been in the house for many years. This is the dining table the nuns used, and it’s come home. Mrs. Clarkson was so excited to tell us and show it to us when we arrived today.”

At the William Robinson Home at 405 E. High St., built in 1880, guests were greeted by Tera McGuire, who owns the house with her husband, Ty. Inside, docent Tonya Boucher noted the floor-to-ceiling bay windows in the parlor and told visitors that one of her favorite features of the room is that the shutters are numbered with Roman numerals, in case they must be taken down for painting. The glass in the windows behind them is the slightly wavy original. The large kitchen has the original frieze at the top of the wall, in a design of grapevine and grapes, now painted white.

Outside at the carriage house, docent Ann Healy said the quaint building “is the only carriage house with the original cupola in Mount Vernon.”

At 601 E. High St., owners Tim and Susan Kahrl, along with docents, told visitors about the house, known as the William Ackerman House, built in 1894. It’s the only house in Mount Vernon designed by the famous 19th century architect George Franklin Barber. A broad piazza wraps around the front of the house that docent Nancy Lorey called “one of the architectural gems of Mount Vernon.”

Maurice and Harriett Essex, former owners of the house, drove to Mount Vernon from their home near Dublin to take the tour. Four of their five adult children came along.

“We owned this house 40 years ago,” said Maurice. “Everything is pretty much the same. The black board in the basement where we wrote all our names is still there, and the Kahrls and their children signed their names there, too.”

“It’s great to come back and see all this,” said Harriett. The Essexes brought along their photo album with photos of the period they lived in the house, and left it inside for the length of the tour for everyone to enjoy.

“We remember a lot,” said Maurice.

The C.G. Conley House at 507 E. High St. is owned by Ann and Sam Laudeman. Ann is the granddaughter of Clyde and Elizabeth Conley, who built the house in 1920. Their portraits hang on a hallway wall. Clyde Conley, an engineer, was president of the Mount Vernon Bridge Co., thus the house was constructed of steel beams and concrete, and the foundation was allowed to settle for a year before the house was constructed.

The Fred Thomas House at 607 E. High St., now owned by State Rep. Thom and Diane Collier, was built in 1931 and is the newest house on the tour. Thom Collier said its Federal architecture represents patriotism, and told visitors they would see patriotic features throughout the house, such as eagles, flags and groupings of 13 objects that represent the original 13 United States colonies. The chandelier in the foyer can be lowered to the floor to change the light bulbs.

A favorite feature of those on the tour was the breezy sunporch that looks over the grassy side yard. The house still has the original floors, as well as new wallpaper in stately patterns that complement the Federal theme, a large window over the kitchen sink that looks out on a climbing rosebush and a Dutch back door to let breezes flow through the kitchen.

The Greek Revival William McClelland Home at 109 E. High St. was built in 1853. It now serves as offices for Jim Giles, Esq., and ACS Title Co. Leaded and stained glass are a feature of the house; it sparkles and shines at night, reflecting the light of the street lights. The large porch is curved, with Doric columns, and may not be original to the house. Inside are pocket doors with an egg-and-dart pattern that repeats in the fireplace mantel. Above the mantel is a Vernon Johnson original painting of the house.